Introduction:

Severe resorption of the maxilla in fully edentulous patients sometimes makes it impossible to place standard endoosseous implants to rehabilitate the absence of teeth. For such severe atrophies, subperiosteal implants were patented in 1938 in Sweden. This type of subperiosteal implants have had excellent results over the last few years but are not without complications. The aim of our study is to describe the main complications with this type of implants and which modifications have been made trying to avoid them.

Material and method:

We designed a retrospective follow-up study of 15 patients with severe upper jaw atrophy treated in 2 private centers with a customized subperiosteal implant in 2021 and 2022, to which we apply a few modifications in the design of the same.

Results:

The first eight patients were treated with a single bilateral subperiosteal implant and the remaining seven with two subperiosteal implants, one on each side of the maxilla. All patients were treated with a temporary prosthesis bolted 48 hours after surgery and replaced at three months with a definitive prosthesis. In five patients (33.33 %), we had minor postoperative complications.

Conclusions:

Despite the limitations of the study, we think that the use of customized subperiosteal implants in patients with severe maxillary atrophy is a predictable treatment with excellent results. Exposure is the main complication in our case series, and we consider that the use of individual double subperiosteal implant and a bone cutting guide help to minimize the risk of this complication.

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